


Project Experiment

by DizzlyPuzzled



Category: Danny Phantom, Justice League
Genre: Angst, Confusing Computer, HOLY, Just an idea that won't leave me alone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-01-16 01:11:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12332481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzlyPuzzled/pseuds/DizzlyPuzzled
Summary: The Guys in White forge a weapon to take on Superman. To prove that they don't need the Justice League, however, with an entire City taken hostage by a half ghost manic, and their weapon refusing to work with them, they find themselves on an out.Now the Justice League has to find a way to help this hero get back home, and save the worlds that he is connected to.





	1. Prologue

Project Experiment

Prologue

_Always be Ready for anything_

* * *

       Superman smiled seeing how everything was calm and peaceful for once. It had been a little touch and go with Lex attacking and trying to get the government to side with him, but justice won again. He knew that it wouldn't be the last time Lex tried, but he would keep fighting for what he believed in. That's when a green beam of energy came out of the sky and hit him.

Hard.

    Blasting him to the ground, he looked up to see a white hooded figure with a glowing green hand. His green eyes stared at the hero from under the hood.

    He looked scared.

        Superman let out a small growl before launching himself out of the crater and towards the figure. Right before he hit the figure, it motioned towards a white van parked not too far away from them. The figure grunted as he tackled to the ground. Superman's eyes widen when he realized he just took out a kid. A weird glowing kid with white hair and bright glowing green eyes, but a kid nonetheless.

         "What are you doing?" the superhero asked with concern. The kid's hood fell down and Superman noticed a small wire coming from his ear. This teen didn't seem to want to fight, but he looked over at the van again, and Superman listened closely. The earpiece making noise.

_"Get up and take him down, Phantom. I know you can, so do it, or you won't like the consequences."_

      Superman realized that whoever was controlling this kid was probably trying to take him out of the game for whatever reason.

       “Don’t do this, kid,” Superman stated pinning the teen to the ground. Bright green eyes stared at the hero in fear, but surprised Superman by the hope that was also there. Superman realized it wasn’t fear of him. “This isn’t a fight you will win.”

               “I don’t want to fight anymore. Please make it stop,” Phantom begged looking up at the hero before glancing towards the van again. “Please.” Superman glared over at the van when someone exited.

               “Superman, please release him. I’m sorry for any inconvenience he may have caused. He’s been in our care for a while now. I thought he would be ready to face the outside world, but I was wrong,” he stated, and Superman could feel creepiness coming off the man in waves. “My name is Dr. Minnow.”

               “Please don’t let them,” Phantom whispered as small as he could hoping that the hero would hear him. He was told most of the known powers of Superman, including super hearing. Superman looked back at teen when he spoke quietly. This teen took him down, and his chest hurt. Nothing has been able to hurt like that before. This teen was dangerous and unknown, and if in the wrong hands could very well bring the Justice League down.

               “I’m sorry, but he attacked me and has to face those consequences,” Superman informed grabbing the teen’s arm and pulling them both up. Phantom let him hold him. He could get away from the League without a problem of course, but getting back to Amity Park would be a problem with the Guys In White breathing down his neck. His only hope of ever being able to go home would lay with Superman’s help, or the League’s. “He’s coming with me.”

               Suddenly several people with guns appeared surrounding them. Guns that Superman had never seen before. The teen tensed.

               “If my blast hurt you, these are so much worse,” he whispered letting the man know what he was getting into. “I can protect you, but I can’t get away from them by myself.” Phantom pulled the cord from his ear. “I really need help, and yes, I can probably kick your ass.” Superman glared at the teen when he dropped the earpiece on the ground and crushed it glaring at Minnow. “I’m not going back with you no matter what you say.”

               “Fire,” Minnow ordered as a green shield appeared around them both. Superman’s eyes widen when the green shield kept the firing from them. He looked for GL, but couldn’t find him.

               “I can’t hold this forever, but I could really use your help getting away from them. They want me as their weapon, but I don’t exactly listen to them. Clearly, I’m helping you instead of attacking,” Phantom started as he winced. He could feel the electricity from the collar start coursing though him. “There’s a collar. I can’t get it off, and it’s been preventing me getting away. It’s also weakening my shield.” Superman looked at the teen whose hood had fallen. There was a grey dog like collar wrapped around his neck. He could hear the humming coming from it.

               “Alright, but you’re going to have to come with after this is settled,” Superman stated as he stepped closer to the teen and looked at the collar.

               “Planned on it. There is so much going on, and I can’t do it myself,” Phantom informed pulling more from his core into the shield. He could pull from the environment and his core more efficiently once the collar was off. Superman narrowed his eyes as he gently pulled the collar away from the teen’s neck so he could use his laser eyes to get it off.

               “Be as still as possible,” Superman said as he fired. The collar gave quickly and Superman could feel the power as it condensed on the teen. Phantom looked up at him with a smile and white eyes as he let his shield explode towards the guys firing at them.

               “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Minnow screamed watching as Phantom flew up with green energy surrounding him. Power pulsed around everyone. Superman watched a little unsure if what he did was right or not. “You have no idea what you have unleashed!”

               “He’s not the one who tried to kill me,” Phantom growled his white eyes narrowed before firing at the man. The man jumped back from the smoking hole with wide eyes. Superman flew up to level with Phantom.

               “Don’t hurt these people,” he warned not wanting to fight the teen. He knew the kid probably has some issues, but he hoped that the teen wouldn’t attack.

               “They started it,” Phantom snarled as the energy gathered around. “It’s their fault!”

               “That doesn’t mean you get to kill them,” Superman said watching the teen warily.

               “I’m not going to, but I’m not going back with them,” Phantom growled feeling overpowered. This is what happens when he can’t use all of his powers. They get overloaded, but there wasn’t anywhere he could go without them following. “I will if they don’t let me go. I’m not theirs. I don’t belong to anyone. I’m not going back to that lab ever again.”

               “PHANTOM!” Minnow growled aiming a gun at the teen. He fired, but another shield appeared between Phantom and him. It glowed green and blue before surrounding Superman and Phantom encasing them from Minnow and the rest of the GIW. The air turned cold suddenly, and Superman watched as the ground slowly had ice forming. “You won’t win this. We’ve taken you down before!”

               “With help, but now you don’t have it anymore,” Phantom warned putting more energy into the air and letting it build. Superman grabbed the teen’s arm only to pull back when the cold bit into him. A sense of death washed over the hero, and he wasn’t where it was coming from. If it was the teen, or something else.

               “You need to stop,” he said trying to calm the teen down. “Someone is going to get hurt.”

               “I can’t keep my powers at bay anymore,” Phantom snapped looking at Superman. He could see a little of the green that was there before. Though the bright glowing white eyes were a little unsettling, Superman could tell the teen was trying to hold his powers in. “They were trying to control me, and they overloaded them.”

               “I can help you,” Superman pleaded needing the teen to stop this. It was affecting him somehow, and he didn’t like it, especially since he had no idea about any of this. “How’d you know your blast hurt me?”

               “You protected where I hit you. They will not hold back,” Phantom motioned to them. The ones who had gotten their guns again were firing at the shield. “You have no idea how much I actually held back till you get hit with those. You thought mine knocked the wind outta you?” Superman glanced around at the firing agents knowing that there had to be something he was missing. “Theirs will burn you. They burn me.”

               “What are you?” Superman asked as Minnow barked more orders to take down the ghost.

               “Dead,” Phantom growled pulsing his shield before blowing it out again and knocking the men back again. Superman watched as the force knocked most of them out. Suddenly Phantom dove down and grabbed Minnow before shooting straight up into the sky. Superman followed concerned for the human being that had clearly hurt the teen. He couldn’t let Phantom kill him.

               Phantom created a green shield under himself that Superman flew around when Phantom threw Minnow down on it. Phantom landed on it and glared at the doctor.

               “Do you really think that you’re going to get away from us?” Minnow growled glaring at Phantom. Superman stayed behind Minnow ready to grab him at any moment. “We put too much time and effort into getting you to the point where you could take down Superman.”

               “Did you really think you could continue to control me? That I would just lay down and let you do god knows what to me after you ordered the hit?” Phantom growled. Minnow only grinned at him.

               “We will always know where you are, Phantom. Superman was just a test, and one you failed. Quite brilliantly actually. You were so close, and yet you decided to keep up your hero status,” Minnow dusted himself off and glared up at the ghost again. “It’ll be fun to break you again.”

               “I don’t think you’ll have that chance,” Phantom pointed out nodding to Superman who had his arms crossed. Minnow’s eyes widen believing that the hero would have stopped and checked that none of the men who were attacked were hurt. “I only needed a witness. And now?”

               “Phantom will be coming with me, and if any of your men follow, the League will come down on you,” Superman informed as Phantom slowly let the shield start to fall. Minnow glared before pulling out a small ecto weapon.

               “Your mother was very helpful before the Fall,” Minnow grinned before shooting Phantom down and breaking the shield. He free fell waiting for Superman to catch him, only the hero went after Phantom first, pulling the teen close to him before just barely missing Minnow on the roof. Superman winced when Minnow laid on the roof, lightly twitching as blood pooled around his head.

               “Phantom,” Superman whispered feeling the ghost shift slightly. A bright light appeared around his waist before just disappearing again. Superman gently laid him on the roof as Superman contacted the League.

               This was only the beginning. And Superman had a feeling that the kid was going to get caught in the middle. But after what he heard, he was going to be siding with the kid.

He can’t save everyone after all.

 


	2. Of Humble Beginnings

Project Experiment

Chapter One

_Of Humble Beginnings_

_Hold on to everything you have_

_For one moment, it will be gone_

* * *

 

               “Superman, this kid is technically dead,” Batman mumbled glaring at the monitors. There was no heartbeat, no blood pressure, and nothing to show that the kid was even still alive except for the fact that he was still breathing. Which was weird because J’onn couldn’t even contact him telepathically. Batman didn’t know what to do cause they had nothing hooked up to the teen to even keep him alive.

               “Look, he told me he was dead as if that answered to how he had powers,” Superman stated watching his friend. “I mean, that doctor said something about The Fall, and that the kid’s name was Phantom.” Batman nodded. He dug around and there was something going on because he was having trouble accessing files that had that name attached.

               “If he wakes up, he’ll have a lot to answer to,” Batman stated when a blip on the heart monitor appeared before flat lining again. It was the same thing for the past couple days. He would blip and then hours later have an energy surge. “There has to be some kind of files on him somewhere, and those guys completely disappeared after Minnow died. Which no one seems to know to even know who that is. The body disappeared as well.”

               “They made him attack me, and Bruce, if he was holding back when he fired at me? Then he might actually be right in being able to take me down,” Superman stated looking down at his chest. There was a red mark there still from the kid’s power. “I don’t know what he is, but he’s powerful and dangerous.”

               “Diana is supposed to be here shortly, and she said she may have an idea,” Batman said as he tried to gauge the teen’s power before they surged again. His molecule structure was trying to change, and Batman knew that it had to be hurting him.

* * *

 

               Danny walked though his headspace. He had gotten pretty use to mediating from the lab. A shiver went though him as flashes of the lab shook his core. He felt his powers surge though him before he could gain control of them again. He had no idea how they were affecting the outside world.

               He knew that a lot of the problem was with the fact that his human half was nearly unreachable. It had been for a long time. They didn’t want that half of him, it wasn’t powerful or useful to them.

               Phantom was, but you couldn’t have one without the other, so they forced his ghost side to stay. Never resting, and now it was starting to catch up with him. He just hoped that he still would be able to access both sides by the time his body was done healing from the experiments.

               He knew he couldn’t stay like this for long, but if he could heal enough that he could actually be of help to the Justice League, then he just had to hope that they were able to do some research. He had a feeling that they would hit several road blocks.

Now he just had to figure out how to open his mind up. He had felt someone poking around, and if he was right, then maybe he could rest and inform the Justice League of some of the things they’re going to have to watch out for.

He sat down and started working though his powers. Checking levels and seeing what has changed since he now had the time to do so.

* * *

 

               Batman glared as he watched the rest of the coverage on the locked down town of Amity Park. There was a giant blue shield surrounding the entire town, and has been there for nearly four months. No one could get in or out. Batman had no way of hacking into the system and it was too far inside Amity for him to get close.

               Amity Park’s shield was getting larger and larger by the day, and it was getting concerning. Batman wondered if there was anything connecting this town with the teen currently in their infirmary.  He remembered reading something about a Phantom living in Amity that had disappeared six months ago. Batman looked at the screen that showed the teen laying on the bed. His aura glowed brighter before power surged again. Batman signed as he pushed a button that sent an electrical current though the kid. It stopped the surge and prevented the teen from destroying anymore of the room.

               This time a white ring appeared around the teen just floating there before splitting and going across the teen. A stained shirt appeared before the rings snapped back together and disappeared. Batman narrowed his eyes before looking into Amity Park a little more and getting nothing but ghost stories.

               Diana looked at the teen closely wondering what was keeping the kid going. Clearly the teen was dead, and was probably a ghost, but no one really believed her since most of them didn’t really believe in ghosts. Of course, scientist were telling her how they don’t exist and how there was no proof. She just looked at them and reminded them that they had fought gods before and that they have been to different dimensions.

               “This kid is an impossibility,” Diana told Superman who was also watching the teen. “He’s not a normal ghost. I’ve seen their world, but he’s different.”

               “He took me down before surrendering and fighting those agents,” Superman stated. “I don’t trust him, but he didn’t want to fight me. How can we trust him?”

               “Ghosts are powerful creatures, but unstable if they use too much of their own power. They dissolve into green goo known as ectoplasm. But he seems like his power is growing, and not causing him to melt,” Diana motioned to him. “He’s different from other ghosts, and I don’t know what it is. Batman showed me the video of a white ring appearing around him after every little blip on the heart monitor.”

               “So, maybe he hides himself as human,” Superman stated shrugging. He really didn’t know much about ghosts or supernatural. Diana’s eyes widen as she headed into the infirmary where the teen was laying. “What are you..”

               “You might be right,” Diana yelled as she took off down the hallway. It explained everything. Why he was different, and why he couldn’t wake up.

               He was human.

* * *

**Amity Park**

               This wasn’t home anymore. Since the capture of Phantom, everything was wrong. Masters started convincing everyone that now that Phantom wasn’t there, his ghost hunters could handle the ghosts that kept coming.

               Except stronger ghosts started coming out of the portal. Ones that Masters didn’t hire. Ones that they had no control over. Soon Masters pulled the last trick he had by incasing the town in a ghost shield claiming that it would keep the ghosts out.

               They forgot that the portals were inside. Now they were trapped inside with ghosts haunting the streets under Masters rule. The portals shut; no one else was coming to save them. The citizens realized something then.

               Phantom wasn’t just stopping the small ghosts from destroying the town. He was the stopping point of this kind of chaos. He knew what was going on behind closed doors. He was holding Plasmius back.

               He was what kept them from being enslaved.

* * *

 

**Gotham**

               Jack Fenton watched the live feed from Amity Park. There still was nothing coming out of the city. For two months commutations had been shut down. Four since the shield came up. He sighed. He knew his wife and daughter were still there. His son was missing. It wasn’t anyone’s fault really. He and Maddie had pushed Danny into never telling them, and he didn’t have the heart to tell Maddie that she helped take down her own son.

               After she told him proudly what she had done, he grabbed the boomerang. Knowing it was still keyed into Danny’s ecto-signature. He took off that leaving a note after they realized that Danny wasn’t coming back. Told her he had a lead and wanted to test it. He took off in the Fenton Jet following the tracker.

               It got stopped at an explosion in some lab right outside Metropolis. Lex Lurthor owned it, and he knew his son was inside at some point, he tried getting more info, but then Amity Park had been locked down with a shield he never seen before.

               He got a hold of Wonder Woman at the time to tell her more about Amity. She told him everything she could about the situation, but warned him about going back. He took it. His son wasn’t in Amity, and he wasn’t going to return without him.

               He was the only one who might be able to put the pieces together and save Amity. He held all the cards between his powers and his knowledge. He was the only one who could save Amity.

               “Mr. Fenton,” Diana said as she arrived in his temporary lab. “We found someone. I believe he’s a ghost, by the name Phantom. Is it the same Phantom that was in Amity?” Jack looked at the picture she handed before hope filled his chest.

               “I need to see him,” Jack told her. “He can save Amity.”

               “He’s currently in the WatchTower. I can’t…”

               “You don’t understand, that’s my son,” Jack pointed out taking the picture. “I need to help him.”

               “But he’s a ghost right?” Diana asked knowing that this was what she needed to prove to the League that Phantom was a ghost.

               “Sorta, I need to talk to him, cause he holds all the answers, but he can change, I know it, I don’t understand it, but I know,” Jack informed. “Who knows what they could have done to break his balance.”

               “I’ll see what I can do, but have you learned anything new about Amity?” she asked. Jack Fenton was the one that they had asked to keep tabs on anything new going on around Amity. He was the one that contacted them about it, and that there was something seriously wrong after his son’s disappearance.

               “No, but Danny. He was keeping that from happening sooner. He can save it, and he might be the only one able to do so,” Jack informed as he gathered some of his research. “Please, I can help him once I see him. I’m not…I’m not the best; Maddie was, but I can try.” Diana nodded and looked up.

               “Give me a day, and I’ll see what I can do. Do you know anything else about him?” Diana asked filing away that information. The kid was connected to Amity. They finally had a lead after four months.

* * *

**WatchTower**

               “I’m surprised that they haven’t gone after Superman for Minnow’s death.” GL said as he rewatched the security footage Batman found. Minnow fired at Phantom causing the shield to disappear. Superman took off and grabbed Phantom first, even though he was farther away, but had no time to turn back and grab Minnow.

               “Phantom is a teenager, Superman knew that fall could kill both of them. I believe he made the right choice. Even if Phantom could have survived that fall, we still wouldn’t be any closer to knowing anything about their organization,” Batman growled out. He hated not knowing something. He had access to nearly everything, but who Minnow was and who he worked for didn’t exist. The only one who could give him answers was laying unconscious and also apparently somewhat dead. “Phantom was lowing them to the roof. Minnow killed himself.”

               “Still could be dangerous if they go after Superman or Phantom for his death,” GL said as he looked at the screen where the teen was still laying unconscious.

               “They can try, but the evidence that he caused it himself is overwhelming as well,” Batman informed taking a breath. This was never easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name of this has a story.  
> Sorry if it seems diaguely? I'm switching from script writing and this all the time. So my writing sorts bleeds into each other. It sucks.  
> Also, still am looking for a beta.  
> I don't really have any sort of schedule to update. Just whenever I'm not dead usually. Also when I have time to write. Been working tens hours and saturdays at work. 54 hours just last week not to mention what we are still working for this week. The amount has gone down though.   
> I would like to start a few more stories, and have written bits of one that keeps me from noticing that people at work are trying to fuck with me...and probably trying to actually fuck me? I don't know, but I'm ready to beat a couple of them.  
> Till next time.


	3. Pulling Apart

Project Experiment

Chapter Two

_Pulling Apart_

_Hope is hidden in the most unlikely places_

**Hall of Justice**

* * *

 

                              Jack Fenton paced across the hall waiting for Diana. It’d been two days, and she had finally gotten though to the rest of them that he could help. He seen the video of that man shooting his son and falling to his death.

               He still didn’t care. Phantom wasn’t going to let that man die, but he was willing to let the hybrid die. Jack didn’t care for anyone who dares to hurt his family. That included the scum that pretended to be his friends for years.

               “Jack Fenton?” a voice behind him called. Jack turned to see a small flash of red before the superhero stopped in front of him. Jack blinked before realizing who this was.

               “Yeah, that’s me. Do you…Do you have any more information for me?” the father asked concerned. Flash smiled brightly before motioning for the man to follow him.

               “Yeah, took a bit from both me and Diana to convince Batman to let you come up and see him. We don’t normally let anyone other than league members up to the watchtower, but if that kid is your son…” Flash trailed off watching the man carefully.

               “It took me nearly a year before I realized what was going on, but it was too late. I had no idea how deep he had gotten till after he was captured,” Jack explained when they came up to the zetabeam portals. “He deserves better.” Flash gave him a small smile.

               “You’re here now, so let’s get him help and see what’s really going on,” Flash typed something in before the lights around the portal flashed. “Two to the WatchTower.”

* * *

 

               Danny felt his human warmth for the first time in forever. He couldn’t believe as he quickly grabbed a hold of as tightly as he could hoping that it wouldn’t actually end in his death. He didn’t think his ghost would allow it. Ectoplasm tends to have a quality of trying to prevent killing things.

               Should have been a dead giveaway when hunters got shot by ectoplasm blasts and they don’t die. Kinda hard to miss that big ass clue.

Oh well.

* * *

 

               Jack was a little unsettled seeing his son in his ghost form laying on the bed looking dead. There was a monitor for his breathing, but the heart monitor simply showed a steady line. Interesting that his son could just stop his heartbeat in his ghost form.

               He needed to focus on helping Danny, not well…maybe that could work. Learning about how his son’s vitals worked could actually help him.

               “Has the he ever had a heartbeat since you had him?” Jack asked looking at the Flash. The speedster nodded.

               “Yeah, and they came with violent energy spikes that nearly destroyed the infirmary. Although the last couple of times, a white ring formed around him,” Flash explained getting a nod from Jack. It would make sense if they were trying to keep him controlled and his powers were building under the surface the whole time.

               He fainted, but yet had too much to power to really let himself rest. Almost like someone having too much caffeine before trying to sleep. His son wasn’t so much resting as much as his body was having a freak out.

               “Alright, his powers are overloaded. I’m going to chance to say that normally his powers are evened out by the ghost fights he was in back in Amity. Now if he was being controlled and his powers kept at bay, they were still growing. Now he has all this power and nowhere for it to really go. This would make sense on why he isn’t changing. His ghost side can handle that power while it would burn his human side up,” Jack started muttering pulling out a few papers and an ecto tracer out of his jumpsuit. “His ghost is protecting the human part of him, so he needs to drain the power, but without waking up, he can’t do it. So the surges happen.”

               “Can you fix it?” Flash asked watching the man carefully. This kid was the only thing linking them to what really happened in Amity Park. Even if the kid was Jack’s son. He didn’t want anything to go wrong and they end up really killing the kid.

               “I have no idea, but now that I know what I’ve got to work with, maybe,” Jack whispered looking at his son. He hadn’t really taken the time to look over Phantom much. Although now, Jack couldn’t figure out why they hadn’t figured it out earlier. Phantom was growing at the same rate, but Jack knew it was because him and Maddie were both blinded by their own hate for the ghostboy.

               They openly shouted hate towards their own son within even knowing it, and Jack knew that’s what hurt the most.

               He remembered when he first seen the change and how he felt when he realized that Phantom was really his son.

* * *

 

_Jack grinned as he lined up the shot. Phantom would never know what hit him when suddenly the ghost vanished from the tracker. Jack frowned and looked up Phantom was still standing there but a white ring had formed around his waist. It started to traveled when someone else dressed in Red fired at the kid._

_But Jack stopped. He knew that shirt that had appeared from somewhere. He pulled the tracker that now showed Phantom again. Phantom had literally disappeared from a tracker. Like he was no longer a ghost._

_Then what was he?_

_Jack watched as Phantom fired at the weapons that Red had before taking off as fast as he could fly. Jack could see the annoyance on the young face. A face that was vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn’t place it._

_Jack frowned as he started home thinking over what Phantom could be. That tracker could track ghosts that were overshadowing humans, but he had it keyed so it would quit tracking Danny. That was a pain in the butt in and of itself. He had no idea why the inventions were keying into his son, but he was gonna to figure it out._

_He stopped as he came up to the RV. His son was pulling away from the family so quickly, and he was growing up all too fast. He could remember when he was little and would just follow him everywhere. Jack called him his little shadow. He was always so interested in what his father was doing. Jack missed those times dearly._

_Then the portal started working and Danny started drifting and everything seemed like it was crashing._

_He pretended it didn’t. He was good at that. Maybe he shouldn’t be, but his parents weren’t exactly the best role models._

_Jack stared at the sky as the ghostboy shot back towards seeming to have lost the Red Hunter. However he seemed like he was hurt, and Jack wondered how the kid died. If it was his parents when no one took close enough notice. Jack shock his head._

_He didn’t need those thoughts, but then something else came to mind._

_Danny Phantom._

_Why did the ghost call himself Danny Phantom? Most ghosts just go by one name unless their pretending to be human, like that rocker ghost._

_Maybe Phantom pretended to be human too when he wasn’t fighting ghosts. Maybe he went to Casper. Jack would have to look and see pictures of the students and see which one might be the ghost._

_The kid would probably have a hard time keeping up in class._

_Kinda like his son at the moment._

_He would also probably have one or two people very close that know and are willing to protect that kind of secret. Especially with the hostility that the GIW have been showing recently._

_His son’s found some very good and protective friends too._

_He would also be skipping classes when a ghost is attacking. Jack had seen on more than one occasion that he was fighting during school hours._

_His son had been skipping classes too._

_Jack paused. He was a man of science, but he also knew that there were things that could be explained when all the data is founded. Things that seem like magic until more research was done._

_What if Phantom wasn’t really a ghost? The tracker wouldn’t have popped up if he was hiding as a human._

_Would that make Phantom human?_

_Jack looked around when he realized that he was home._

_When did that happen?_

_Maddie would be the best person to really talk to about this, but sometimes she was too analytical and wouldn’t be able to see the possibility if it didn’t fit in with the science that they now knew._

_Of course, that didn’t leave Jack with much in the way of trying to talk out his ideas. He may talk a lot, but that’s only because the silence hurt._

_It always did._

_Jack watched as his son limped up the stairs. He was still sitting in the RV. He wondered what his son could’ve done to end up hurting himself like that._

_Danny was always hurting himself one way or another, but he always seemed okay a couple hours later._

_Sometimes Jack could’ve sworn he would see blood on the kid’s shirt at times, and then there would be nothing there._

_Jack wondered if Danny was getting hurt at school. He knew he was bullied, but he hoped they weren’t physically hurting him. He would have to talk to Lancer about it, cause heaven knows his son wouldn’t tell anyone._

_He never did._

_Jack wondered what on earth he was going to do. The only thing he did was cut all ties to his family and move to Wisconsin where he pretended that everything was okay. He met Vlad and then he met the woman of his dreams._

_He pretended to be someone else, and then let that become who he was now._

_Maddie knew very little of his life before college, but she also knew enough not to ask anymore. That sometimes the nightmares afterward were too much for either of them._

_There were too many nights screaming._

_There was screaming now. Jack turned and watched wide eyes as his son jumped from his window and a white ring appeared around his waist before flying off_

_Jack could do nothing but stare._

_His list of Phantom and his son’s problems were similar and he felt like a fool._

_The Portal._

* * *

 

               Jack felt tears as he tried to keep himself together. It’d too long since he was able to see any of his family. But he wasn’t going to give on his son. Danny deserved a better father than he was, but he wasn’t going to stop until he was what Danny deserved.

               “I need access to some paddles and a heating pad,” Jack stated. He knew that Phantom held an ice core, and that if enough heat was there, his core should burn energy to keep him cool. Jack hoped that he was right in burning off the right amount of power. He could feel it buzzing around the room.

               He needed to do this soon before something goes really wrong. Phantom and the Ghost King were the two most powerful ghosts to ever grace Amity Park. Rating at a 9.9 for the Ghost King, and currently sitting at a 8.3 for Phantom.

               He had to be careful, cause Danny was still growing, and his powers were following suit. It made so much more since on how such a young ghost was gaining so much power so quickly.

               “What exactly are you doing?” Flash asked needing to stay in the loop. He wondered if he could help. He may not completely believe in ghosts, but if that’s what Diana believed this kid to be, and the kid’s apparent dad, then he couldn’t say anything.

               “Heating up the area around him. I’m hoping it’ll put out enough that his core will burn some excess power by keeping him cooler,” Jack started. “I haven’t been able to talk to him about this since I figured it out, but I have theories. And a good sense of how Phantom works since a lot of what didn’t make sense before, now does if he had a human half.”

               “Wait, you knew your son was a hero and never told him?” Flash asked looking at Jack in confusion.

               “I never had the chance,” Jack whispered looking away.

* * *

 

_Jack made in the house after sitting in the car for two hours. His son was the ghostly hero of Amity Park. He needed to talk to him and figure a few things out. Maybe run a couple tests just to make sure that the ghost side of him wasn’t burning him up._

_He probably should have followed when Maddie suddenly shot into the house with a wide grin on her face._

_“Guess who just helped the Guys In White take down Phantom?” Maddie gloated as she proudly entered the kitchen._

_Suddenly all Jack could feel was the total helpless of being able to help his son._

_  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to an awesome review, I was finally able to move forward a bit.  
> I'm still looking for betas also. I've had several people interested, but man, staying in contact is hard. I just need one for this story since I have one for Hybrid List. Anyone?....Bueller?


	4. White Rings

Project Experiment

Chapter Three

_White Rings_

_A wise man will never tell a tale that doesn’t have a lesson with it_

_Always listen_

* * *

 

               Jack grinned a little as a white ring formed around Phantom’s body. It was stable. The ring stayed around his son, and he wondered why it seemed like it wasn’t doing anything. It was hot in the room, but Flash was smiling too. Phantom’s core temperature was slowly going down.

               They had been at it for nearly twelve hours. Heating and letting Phantom cool the room. Flash didn’t think it would really work, but it did. The ring was stable around him and Jack gently let his hand go through it. It felt a little chilly when suddenly the ring separated and the heart monitor started beeping, and Danny took in a deep breath. Almost as if his lungs had to adjust from the cold to the warm.

               “Whoa,” Flashed whispered seeing the change. That was awesome. The kid had one hell of a way to keep a secret identity. Banking on the impossible and hoping people never noticed the similarities. It was an easy change between identities compared to what some of the other heroes had to do. Like Batman.

               “Yeah, kinda freaked me out too when I first seen it,” Jack said softly as he held his son’s hand. A low groan came from the bed as blue eyes blinked up at them.

               “Dad?” Danny mumbled before closing his eyes again. Jack smiled. His son was going to be just fine. Now all they had to do was come up with a plan to save Amity.

               And for the first time since the shield went up, Jack felt like it was finally possible.

* * *

 

**Amity Park**

               Maddie felt the tears burning her eyes as she watched her son be tortured. She knew it wasn’t really Danny. Masters had been trying to make a clone for the past two months. It hurt every time one of them failed.

               She knew now that she helped take her son down. She knew that she deserved every bit of this torture. Her son was dead, and her husband was probably dead now too.

               Jazz was gone. But Maddie had no idea if her daughter was alive either. It’d been nearly three months since she has last seen her.

               Amity Park was suffering because the one thing that had been saving them was a fifteen year old boy who should have never existed in the first place.

And now he was dead.

               Maddie knew that her son may never forgive her, but she wanted to see him one last time. Instead of the terrified boy she held in a net as those agents came closer; she wanted to see him alive and happy with his friends. She should have listened when Phantom told her she would regret her choices.

               Did she ever regret her choices.

               “It’s going to be wonderful,” Vlad whispered leaning against her cage. “You’ll come to love it here, my dear. I may not have been able to get the original to agree to come with me, but the clone should be no problem, and we’ll be one happy family. Just like we should have before Jack’s idiocy came between us.”

               Of course, she hated that man, and she always would. She didn’t open her mouth though. She never wanted to speak again.

               She deserved it.

               And she knew it.

               She was the reason her son was gone.

* * *

 

               Sam watched in horror as the ghosts marched the streets. They looked similar to the Ghost King’s crew, but mixed with Walker’s guard’s uniforms. She wondered where Plasmius found them.

               She wished Danny was here. He would know how to stop them. Or even prevented it from ever happening. Her and Tucker were going to steal the boomerang and speeder, but the tracker was gone.

               And so was the Fenton Jet.

               She wasn’t sure at first if Jazz had taken it to save her brother, but then came to realize that Jack had taken it when he shouted that he had a lead on Danny.

               Sam hasn’t seen Jack since and can only believe that he died when he left. She wouldn’t put it past Plasmius to actually do it. Her and Tucker had tried so hard to figure out where the GIW took Danny, but it was useless. Masters was in charge of them, and there was no telling where her best friend was. Tucker and she couldn’t help keep the ghosts in line, and only now does Amity Park know exactly what Phantom was keeping at bay.

               She hoped that when this was over, that Amity will fight for a memorial for her friend. He deserved to be remembered as the hero he truly was.

* * *

 

               Danny felt pain as he pulled the warmth of his human half to the surface. Pain and a bone deep weariness. He vaguely remembered seeing his father and wondered if he had died.

               He didn’t think he’d feel pain if he died though. He pulled more until the room became clearer. He felt someone holding his hand and looked over to see his father leaning on his bed with his hand holding Danny’s tightly. Jack’s eyes were closed and he was breathing softly. Danny wondered what had happened when everything came back to him.

               How did his dad find him? Did he know?

               “Hey, it’s good to see you awake,” a voice greeted from the other side of the room, sounding pleased. Danny slowly turned his head to see a guy dressed in a red suit and a lightning bolt across the front. He knew who this was, but couldn’t place the name. Danny shook his head hoping to clear it.

               “Where…where am I?” Danny croaked, looking at the red weirdo.

               “The Watchtower. Superman brought you here after you fell,” Flash explained. “Your dad there caught wind that we had Phantom and begged for us to let him help. If it wasn’t for him, you would probably still be unconscious.” Danny looked back at his dad wondering how long he knew and why he didn’t stop his…Maddie from taking him down.

               “Here,” Flash smiled before grabbing a glass of water, “You need to rest some more, but I think you’re gonna be just fine. Although there are some of us that want some answers.”

               “I’m free,” Danny whispered slowly reaching around his neck and looking at the black bangs that were hanging in his face. “Finally.” Flash frowned as ice formed around the kid’s hands. Danny smiled lightly before closing his eyes again.

               “Yeah, you’re free and safe, kid,” Flash smiled before looking at Jack. The guy was a bit odd, but he clearly cared for his son and family dearly.

* * *

 

               The next time Danny woke up, Jack was studying some power reading that he got from his tracer. He knew that watching the reading would give him an answer to how best to help his son, but he had no idea what was normal for Danny. The readings were all over the place from the point of being nonexistence to where he was concerned that the powers would burn up his now human form.

               “Dad?” Danny whispered. Jack dropped all the papers before staring at his son who was watching him carefully. “How long?”

               “You’ve been in a coma like state for about two weeks,” Jack started only for Danny to shake his head.

               “How long have you…?” Danny trailed off as he started coughing. Jack grabbed the glass of water that was left by Flash and helped Danny get a drink.

               “Known about Phantom? The same day that…I was sitting in the RV trying to figure out some things when I watched you jump from your window and change,” Jack answered with a small smile. “I was gonna follow…just to make sure, but you always returned. I didn’t want to watch you fight this time, but you never came back. Maddie did.”

               “I’m sorry,” Danny whispered closing his eyes as a sharp pain raced down his spine. Jack held Danny’s hand as the teen slowly relaxed again.

               “You have nothing to be sorry for. If anyone should be sorry, it should be me. I’m a horrible father,” Jack whispered as he watched his son carefully. “I should have followed you when you flew off, but you always came back…and I didn’t have any idea what I was going to say to you.”

               “I should have said something when it first happened,” Danny said. “I shouldn’t have kept it from you.”

               “You had every right to keep us in the dark,” Jack whispered. “It’s our job to protect you, and we failed when you felt the need to keep your secret from us.” Danny looked down.

               “How bad is it?” Danny asked worry in his voice. He had no idea how bad Amity Park would get without his help. He knew Masters was planning something, but he had no idea what it was. The only thing that was helping him at the moment was the fact that Masters clearly hadn’t killed his father.

               “Amity’s been dark for four months. I have no idea what happened to Maddie or Jazz,” Jack confessed sadly. “I got out before the shield was up when I was looking for you. I was afraid I was too late.”

               “Vlad would have killed you,” Danny whispered. “You getting out was for the best. Maddie’ll be fine.” Jack noticed how Danny distanced himself from his mother, and Jack knew that part of Danny blamed his mother for what happened. He had no idea what really happened when the hero was captured, but he had a feeling that Danny tried to reason with her.

               Danny was a forgiving kid to begin with, so something must have gone terribly.

               “It…It was the portal right?” Jack asked. He needed to know what exactly caused this whole thing to happen.

               “Yeah. But I technically died and was saved by the ectoplasm. Vlad was simply infected with it. Ectoplasm is a lot more complicated than you think. I don’t think Vlad even knows exactly what it does,” Danny explained. “It’s not just the opposite of our world, but a balance to it.” Jack nodded. There was so much to learn. So much that Danny could tell him or even help him understand. There was more to the world of ghost than he ever thought possible.

               “There’s a shield over Amity that’s growing more and more every day, and the League can’t break it,” Jack started. “It looks like a spin off from a ghost shield.”

               “Knowing Vlad, it’s a human/ghost shield. Probably been studying the League for years till he could prefect it,” Danny said leaning back into the bed. “He’s been trying to perfect it for a while.”

               “How…Do you have any idea what he wants?” Jack asked hoping his son could shed a bit more light on the psycho.

               “Kill you, marry Maddie, and make me his son…or clone me. I think he hates me to the point of just cloning me,” Danny muttered. “He’s done that done once…I wonder if he’s still trying. It’s a little creepy to be honest.”

               “You were cloned?” Jack asked in shock. Not his son…His son shouldn’t be dealing with things like this. He should be getting in trouble for being a teenager, not cloned.

               “Yeah, but she’s alright. I even got her stabilized and she’s kinda running around everywhere,” Danny smiled at his dad. “It’s a little weird to be honest.”

               “I should have known,” Jack whispered putting his head in his hands. He felt like crap. His own son had gone through so much.

               “I didn’t want you guys to,” Danny whispered reaching for his dad. “Besides, it was one of the only things I had that prevented Vlad from outright attacking us. If you’d known about me, I wouldn’t have had the leverage to stop him.”

               “I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t want to believe it. I just thought…” Jack trailed off holding on to his son’s hand.

               “We didn’t want people to know. There’s a lot that has happened the past year before I was taken. But we need to save Amity now. We don’t have time to feel sorry for past mistakes,” Danny said tugging his dad’s hand closer to get his attention and look him in the eye. “All we can do now is take down Masters and make sure he can’t hurt anyone else.” They both turned towards the door when someone walked in.

               “Well, you’re looking better than the last time I saw you,” Superman smiled at the teen.

               “I would hope so, I’m not being tortured to attack you anymore,” Danny joked as Jack pulled away from his son to greet the Man of Steel.

               “Good, you mind telling me what those guys wanted then? I got a couple guesses,” Superman asked sitting down next to the teenager. Danny sighed before looking over to the hero.

               “After I was captured in Amity, they were going to run experiments. I managed to set the lab on fire and nearly escaped, but someone else had been looking into the lab. They heard something powerful was there and wanted a weapon. I didn’t find out later they wanted to take you out,” Danny explained.

_The world felt like it was on fire. Phantom slowly pulled himself from the rubble. Unstable raw ectoplasm was extremely flammable and if given the right amount of juice would explode. It was why maintaining permanent ghost portals were near impossible. They had to be careful._

_“Quickly, boys, we have to…oh, what’s this?” a voice asked looking at Phantom closely. Phantom could barely understand what was going on before something slammed into his head._

_The next time Phantom woke up, he was in a cage made of glowing green bars. A bald man in a suit was smiling at him maliciously._

_“It’s good that you’re awake. I’ve been keeping an eye on that lab for a few weeks after hearing about what was in there. My name is Lex Luthor. Now tell me, child, how’d a boy like you end up with that much power?” Lex asked as Phantom stood up with glowing eyes._

_“I died,” he answered before shooting the bars down and escaping only to be stopped when an electrical current rushed though his body. He screamed and felt his human side shy away from the surface._

_That shouldn’t have happened. It should have came closer to the surface. Phantom backed away from Luthor grasping the collar around his throat. Nothing was right, and he couldn’t breathe._

_Darkness filled his vision._

“It took them a couple months to understand exactly what powers I had. I wasn’t very helpful, and I still held back a lot of what I could do. With Amity cut off, they had no access to information about me,” Danny explained looking up at the ceiling. “I kinda planned to get a hold of the League as soon as I could. I needed help before Amity was taken over, but I didn’t want you guys to come after me too.”

               “I guess we never looked into Amity Park as much as we should have. Batman wanted to go check it out before when the town disappeared, but…something came up and we never got around to it,” Superman said with a hint of regret. Maybe all of this could have been stopped before it got this bad if they had gone there. If they had contacted Phantom before he was attacked. If they had given him some way to call for backup for when things got out of control. Maybe even given him protection from the Guys in White.

               They had failed a hero.

And now they were paying the price.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go....I feel like crap...whatever.  
> What do you guys think of Danny/ Damian? Like I have story started, and by started I mean I've got thirty pages and four chapters done....I have no self control. Someone smack me.

**Author's Note:**

> This story I kinda need a soundboard to jump off of a little. I have everything planned, just need the time to type and post. Really posting might seem to be more of a problem than typing it. I'm at a stopped point, but it'll be fine. I can do it.  
> I shouldn't, but I can do it!!!


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